“There’s a sub shop,” said Jonathan, pulling into a plaza. “I’m going to park where they can’t see us. Candi, you go in and get your and Kevin’s orders. I’ll come in a few minutes later and get mine and Sarah’s.”
“Why are we doing it that way?” asked Candi.
“So they don’t see you ordering for four. If they’re alerted to four teens traveling together, it might stand out. I want to be anonymous in this town as much as possible.”
“Fine. You’d better let me out here, then, or they might see me getting out of the same car.”
Jonathan parked down the plaza from the shop, letting Candi out on the sidewalk. “When you’re done, just walk down to the far end of the plaza, and I’ll pick you up when we’re finished.” He looked in the back seat. “Kevin, duck down.”
Kevin didn’t ask questions or argue. Whatever made Jonathan happy with his scheming and planning was fine with him. Jon had gotten them this far without being knifed or shot, so Kevin considered that a sign of successful leadership.
Candi shut the door and Jonathan took off, selecting a parking space a few rows down from the door of the sub place. James’ eyes were glued to Candi as she walked down the sidewalk to the right of them. Kevin smiled at how forlorn the little guy looked. He was already attached.
Sarah was watching the front of the store, her arm slung casually across the white dog’s back. They’d never been allowed to have a dog at their house. Their mother claimed to be allergic, but it was probably more likely that she was allergic to the messes they made. Kevin had always said when he moved out on his own, the first thing he was going to do was get a dog. He glanced over at Xena and then at James. Well, they aren’t the dogs I’d always imagined for myself, but I think they’ll do.
James turned and looked at him, barking once and panting a couple times, before going back to watching for Candi.
Yep. Definitely.
***
Sarah drew the short straw, so she had to walk into the cell phone store and buy the prepaid phone for the group. Before going in, she removed any vestiges of makeup that might have been left after her gas station bathroom clean-up. The last piece of her disguise was a baseball hat they’d found in the duffle bag for some baseball team she’d never heard of.
Walking in, she kept her eyes on the ground, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. She grabbed the first phone off the rack that was cheap and brought it to the counter.
“Hello. Is there anything else I can get for you?” asked the salesman.
She shook her head no.
“Would you like to buy a warranty with this? It’s only five ninety-five and covers accidents for up to a full year.”
“No, thanks.”
“Would you like to add more minutes now? It only comes with sixty to start.”
“Nope.” She schooled her features to stay bland and kept her head down as much as possible without seeming weird. She just needed to pay and get out. Pay and get out, pay and get out.
The door dinged and something made her turn. She probably should have just ignored it, but she couldn’t. She turned her head sideways and caught the vision of a uniform out of the corner of her eye. A police officer came up to the counter and stood right next to her.
“Can I help you, officer?” asked the salesman.
“I can wait.”
Sarah could feel his gaze on her and her own face flaming up in response. She wanted to run but knew it would only make the guy suspicious. Chill out. Just relax. Pay for the phone and get the heck outta here.
“Okay, ma’am, I just need your name and address to turn the phone on. Do you have ID?”
Sarah’s mouth dropped open and for a minute, she was speechless. Then she said the next thing that came to mind. “My name is Gretchen Landin. But why do you need that stuff? This is a prepaid phone, right?”
“Yes, of course. But we use it for our marketing purposes.”
“Well, count me out of that garbage. All I want is the phone.”
“I hear ya on that one,” said the cop. “Seems like everyone just wants a piece of us these days, doesn’t it?”
Sarah just nodded. She had plenty to say on the subject but now was not the time or the place, and this was definitely not the guy to be having a conversation with no matter what it was about.
“Gretchen, you said your name is?” asked the cop.
Sarah nodded again.
“You from around here?”
Sarah sighed and turned to face him. “Am I being interrogated or what? Am I under arrest?” She used her most bitchy tone, hoping to send a very clear message - Don’t flirt with me.
“Did you do anything you need to be arrested for?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow, completely nonplussed by her attitude.
“No,” she said, turning back to the counter and pulling cash out of her pocket. “How much?” she asked the guy.
“Twenty-nine dollars and fifty six cents. Unless you want to add more minutes, I could throw in a card for another hour of talk-time for five dollars and eighty-eight cents.”
“No thanks.” Sarah had reached the panic point. She threw a twenty and a ten onto the counter, grabbed the bag, and left the counter for the door.
“But you forgot your change! And your receipt!”
Sarah ignored the salesman and kept on walking. She could see the police car by the front door of the store and noticed a second cop sitting inside. She put her head down and left the store, taking a left instead of going out to the Camry where everyone was waiting for her, praying they’d figure out that they should drive around and pick her up in a different spot. The last thing they needed right now was to get busted for driving a stolen car.
She walked as fast as she dared. If she ran, she just knew she’d get tackled.
“Hey! Gretchen!” came a voice from behind her. And then the sound of running footsteps and jingling chains or keys, she wasn’t sure which.
Run or stop? Run or stop?! She couldn’t decide at first, but since she knew she probably couldn’t outrun a cop, she stopped.
The officer caught up to her, only slightly winded. “You forgot your change. What’s the big hurry?” He held out his hand upside down.
She looked up at him and noticed he was giving her a funny smile.
“Why are you harassing me?” she asked.
“Take your change,” he said in a calm voice.
She held out her hand, and he dropped some coins in it.
“You know, you don’t have to fear law enforcement. We’re here to keep people and communities safe.”
“I know that.” She tried really hard not to sound as pissed as she was. This guy thought he had her all figured out, and all she wanted to do was scream in his face that he was going to get her killed if he didn’t leave her alone.
“Then why the anger? Why the running?”
She sighed, annoyed. “I just don’t like people messing with me. Am I allowed to be a private person, or does that badge give you the authority to just get all up in my face whenever you want?”
The cop put up his hands in surrender. “No, Gretchen it doesn’t. I’m just making sure you’re okay. It’s not about authority; it’s about caring for people.”
“Well, thanks for caring. I’m late for an appointment now, so if you don’t mind…”
“An appointment? On Sunday?”
“Back off, Officer Feel Good.”
He smiled. “Fine. I get it. You’re a private person. Well, Gretchen, I hope you have a nice day, and if you ever need anything, you just give us a call.” He held out his business card to her.
She was sorely tempted to grab it and rip it in half in front of him, but she didn’t. She just took it and shoved it in her pocket. “Thanks. See ya.” She walked down the plaza sidewalk, not looking back but tuning her hearing in as much as possible to listen for whether he was still following. She heard nothing but the passing of cars as they cruised the lot looking for parking spaces.
S
he kept going until the plaza ran out of sidewalk and continued walking down the main boulevard until she reached a neighborhood. She turned into the first street and stood on the corner, finally getting up the guts to see if anyone had followed her. All she saw were passing cars, none of them with cops inside, and then less than a minute later, the Camry.
She grabbed the door as soon as it came to a stop and pulled it open with a yank. “Holy shizzle, that was close!” She climbed in, patting Xena on the head and throwing the plastic bag on the floor by her feet before slamming the door shut. “Come on, let’s go. But go through this neighborhood first. I need to know if that cop is following us.”
“What the hell happened, Sarah?” asked Kevin, sounding angry. “What did you do in there?”
“I didn’t do anything, jerk. The cop did. I was just standing there trying to buy the damn phone, and he kept talking to me and interrogating me. I finally just told him to back off.”
“Oh boy,” said Candi.
Sarah pushed the back of the seat. “Shut up, Sugar Lump. You probably would have collapsed in tears if he’d come after you like he did me.”
“He wouldn’t have done that to me,” said Candi. “He would have ignored me like all guys do.”
Kevin snorted. “Right. Tell that to Jason.”
“Listen, guys,” said Jonathan, “now’s not the time to get into disagreements. I think we’re fine. No one is behind us and we’ve taken about five turns now, so I’m going to get back out onto the main road.”
“What did he give you? We saw him on the sidewalk doing something,” asked Candi.
“He gave me my change from the phone and his business card.” Sarah fished it out of her pocket. “Here.” She handed it up to Candi.
“Officer Douglas Betts. It has his cell phone and work phone on it.”
“Throw it out,” said Sarah. “I would have done it already, but I didn’t want him to see me and start bugging me again. He’s all mister taking-care-of-the-community-guy, and I guess I’m the troubled youth he’s going to rescue.”
“Well, technically speaking, we are troubled youth. He has good instincts,” said Jonathan. “Just put it in the ashtray. Who knows when we’ll need to speak to someone in law enforcement. It could come in handy someday.”
Candi slid open the compartment and put it inside. “You came out with a bag. Did you get a phone?”
“Yep,” sighed Sarah. “The trip wasn’t a complete waste. I did get a phone and kept my identity a secret. Mostly.”
“Mostly? Uh-oh. What’s that mean?” asked Kevin.
“He asked me for my name, and I panicked.”
“What’d you say?” asked Kevin in his menacing tone.
“I told him it was Gretchen Landin.”
“What’d you do that for?!” exploded Kevin.
“Because he pressured me!” Sarah yelled back. “Get off my friggin back, okay? I did the best I could.” Sarah wanted to stay mad, but instead, she started bawling. “He was asking me questions and that cop was standing behind me and everyone was just waiting for me to say something …”
Xena turned to Sarah and began licking her face and arms, anything she could reach. She even whined a little.
“Kevin, don’t talk to Sarah like that,” said Jonathan sternly. “She did a good job, and none of us can say what we would have done in her shoes. Everyone needs to just stay calm and be respectful.”
Sarah sniffed loudly, wishing she had a tissue.
“Damn, Jon. You’re going to make a great dad,” said Kevin.
“That was straight out of our dad’s toolkit, I can promise you that,” said Candi. “I can’t tell you how many times we heard that growing up.”
Sarah smiled. The idea of her kids getting a dad like Candi and Jonathan had made her happy. Six months ago it would have horrified her. It was funny how much her perspective had changed. She moved her hand to her belly, rubbing it absently. All this introspection was cool, but the hormones were a serious bitch.
Candi twisted in her seat, reaching through the center area to pat Sarah’s leg. “Don’t cry, Sarah. You did great, and we’re fine. We’re safe. Kevin’s sorry.” Candi shot him a look.
Kevin sighed heavily. “Yeah. Sorry. Just ignore me. I’m stressed.”
“We all are,” said Jonathan. “And I’d like to say it’s going to get better; I just saw a copy shop back there and I’m going to turn around so we can go online and find a place to stay.”
He flipped a u-turn and pulled into the shopping plaza’s parking lot, stopping in a space that was surrounded by other cars. There was a baby toy store in the same plaza, so it was packed even late on a Sunday. “Who’s going in this time?” he asked.
“Not me,” said Sarah. No friggin way am I going through that again. She put her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. “Wake me up when we get to our final destination.”
***
Candi and Jonathan sat at the computer, surfing an online classifieds site to find owners that had rentals of furnished cabins in the Tennessee mountains. They were the only ones in the glassed-off room so they made phone calls while they were at it. They struck gold about twenty minutes into the process.
Candi hung up the phone, a huge grin splitting her face. “That one is available for the entire summer. It’s perfect!”
“What’d the owner say about it?”
“She said that it’s really isolated and that’s why it’s so cheap. She didn’t say cheap, actually, she said affordable. The owners used to use it themselves during the summers, but they’re elderly now and their kids live too far away to enjoy it.”
“And they take cash?”
“Yes, she said they’d take cash as long as we paid up front for the whole thing.”
“So how much?”
“Fifteen hundred for a month, three thousand for two months, four thousand for three months.”
“Is she going to require identification?”
“You heard me tell her we lost everything in a fire. She said not to worry about it, that I sounded trustworthy over the phone.”
“That’s incredibly naive,” said Jonathan, frowning. “Maybe it’s a scam.”
“She sounded really old and very sweet. I don’t think someone that old would scam someone.”
“Well, she got the ad online. She must be somewhat sophisticated.”
“She said her grandson did it for her from wherever he lives. He used an old photograph from when he used to go there with his parents.” Candi leaned over and pointed to the pictures online. “Look how adorable it is. And it has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. The porch is just a bonus. It’s perfect.”
Jonathan nodded. “So how are we meeting up with her?”
“I wrote down the directions here. She said there’s this small grocery store in this nearby town where everyone gets their groceries if they don’t want to go into the city. Here’s the address.”
Jonathan checked an online map to find it, printing a copy out to take with them. “I guess we’re all set, then. I figure it’ll take us four hours to get there.”
“Good. So we just have to find a place to sleep tonight, and we’ll leave early in the morning to meet her at ten o’clock.”
“Perfect,” said Jonathan, logging off. “That went easier than I expected.”
“Getting through eight phone calls and rejections isn’t what I’d call easy,” said Candi, standing and stretching her back in a couple directions. “Man, I’m going to be glad to sleep in a real bed tonight. We’re getting a motel room, right?”
“Yes. I think we should, for Sarah if nothing else. I’m personally looking forward to a shower. I’ve been perspiring like crazy.”
“Speaking of showers and washing hair … I was thinking of cutting mine.”
“To make the dreads shorter?” asked Jonathan, walking with Candi to the counter so they could pay for their time used.
“No, to cut them off entirely.”
/> “Your hair will be really short.”
“Yeah, I know. But not totally. I can cut the dreads off at like the four-inch point and then un-dred them. I’m just tired of the heaviness from them, you know? And they really make me stick out. Let’s face it … there aren’t a lot of teenagers in Tennessee with dreadlocks.”
“You’re right. I think it’s a good idea. You’d better ask Sarah though, before you do it.” Jonathan paid the bill and walked to the door, folding the map he’d printed on the way and sticking it in his back pocket.
“Sarah’s not in charge of my hair,” Candi said, following behind him and rolling her eyes at how whipped her brother was.
“Technically, she isn’t, you’re right. But she thinks she is, which in her current condition is a thing we should factor into our decisions.”
“Pfft. Like her being pregnant means we all have to change our lives? I don’t think so. As long as her health isn’t at risk, I’m not considering it at all.”
“Do what you want. It’s your funeral,” said Jonathan, walking up to the car.
Candi got in next to him in a huff.
“What’s wrong? Are we screwed?” asked Kevin from the back, pulling himself forward using Jonathan’s headrest.
“No, actually, we found a spot. Candi’s just upset about a suggestion I made.” Jonathan started the car. He glanced back in his mirror to make sure Sarah was still sleeping. She was out like a light, and Xena was sleeping with her head in Sarah’s lap.
“What was it?” asked Kevin.
“Nothing important.” Candi turned so she could look at Kevin’s expression. “What do you think about me cutting my hair?”
He shrugged. “I don’t care. You’ll be hot no matter what.”
Candi smiled. “That’s nice to know.”
“Sarah might not be too thrilled about it, though,” he added.
Candi rolled her eyes again and turned around. “Sarah’s not the boss of me.”
“Nope. You’re right. Do what you want.”
He was agreeing too easily. She pulled down her visor and looked at his reflection, seeing a devious smile there. “What are you so happy about, troublemaker?”
“I’m just looking forward to the fireworks.”